New Saddle Break-In Time?

[jfogy]

Hi all,

I usually just read posts but today I have my own question. Two weeks ago I purchased a Terry Liberator saddle for my Giant OCR III. I've put about 100 miles on the saddle and I have to say it hurts. Is it supposed to still hurt? I'm wearing padded bike shorts but haven't tried "lubing up" yet.

-Jenny

[DeniseGoldberg]

Wow - you have much more patience than I do. During my last hunt for a comfortable saddle, I went through 2 Terry saddles, 1 Specialized, and one other saddle (can't remember the brand) before settling on my current Fi:z'ik Vitesse. I managed to ride one of the Terry saddles for an hour - the other one, the one with the cut-out, lasted only 15 minutes. Ouch!

If you've got 100 miles in, I'd say it's time to try something else. Does your LBS have a stash of saddles that they let people borrow and try?

--- Denise

[jfogy]

Yeah they do have a saddle stash......I need to give them a call. I guess I just needed to hear someone tell me that it shouldn't hurt. For some reason I get it in my head "no pain, no gain".

Thanks for the input!

-Jenny

[Geonz]

No Pain No Gain doesn't apply to the butt, even if some things that are a pain in the butt bring us gains.

Of course make sure it's not an adjustment thing.

My motto is "No pain -- sounds good!" anyway, and I hold my own...

[Squirrel 2]

I tried a lot of the Terry line, & was able to ride some models for as long as several weeks & hundreds of miles, though uncomfortably & sometimes hanging off the back end to avoid the cut-out. Their Liberator Race model was the only one that defeated me completely. I rode out 8 miles & was in such pain I had tears coming out of my eyes. I limped home & that saddle was off the bike fast.

The others are right, try something else, on a loaner, if possible. And give them a chance, maybe play with positioning if the saddle seems promising. Some saddles seem uncomfortable at first, but you find you settle in on them nicely over the course of a ride. Just remember that with modern saddles & man-made materials, you do not break them in. What you break in is your butt.

[bcipam]

I think it's a matter of assessing body shape and riding style. On a long trip my $120 Serfas saddle broke. I had to make a quick purchase in order to keep riding and bought the Terry Butterfly. From the moment it was on my bike, it was comfortable and has never caused me one problem. In fact, I no longer have to use Assos Creme. With the Serfas saddle, I had to slather up before a ride.

If you ride with a quick cadence (like me) you need a narrow, harder saddle - it will cause less friction, wear and tear on your nether region. If you ride aggressively, ie, stretch out over the top tube, the cut out is almost a necessity but if you tend to sit bolt upright, it might cause pressure sores.

Again I would recommend the Terry, but lots of my friends love and use the Fiz'ik saddles. I once did 90 miles using my guy friend's Solano with an Fiz' ik Avione saddle and was comfortable the whole way although this saddle is designed for men, not women.

I understand Specialize has a new saddle program. You might want to check with you LBS to see if they are the assessment tools and can recommend a saddle. Bottom line, the saddle, like good shoes, should feel good right away.


Edited to add: Not all bike shorts are created equal especially for women. Make sure there are no seams that will cut and irritate and make sure your shorts fit properly, not too big or too small.

[Irulan]

I bought a new saddle and it was wonderful from the first mile. Zero break in. I had my butt measure with the Specialized sit-bones-o-meter and went with the recommended width for my number. I highly recommend this method, takes a lot of the guess work out.

[BikingAt50]

I have been shopping around for a new saddle. I have not had problems with bottom pain, but "with frontal too-too pain", (if you get the idea). There are times after a longer ride, that I wonder if I'll ever be able to pee-pee again. Yet, other times, it doesn't bother me. Guess I sit differently from time to time. My husband has a long narrow saddle. It does not seem to bother me at all. The cut out saddles hurt. As you said, you just have to try them out. I looked at a few this weekend that were "grannie saddles". The were so big and heavy! But, I bet they would feel like your lounge chair...LOL! I'm going to write these names down and do some research. thanks!

[AsaG]

Hello
I just joined these message boards today after having enjoyed reading them for a few days. I am a little nervous about posting for the first time but here it goes.
I decided to jump in here as I am having an embarrassing problem in the nether regions and need to think about what is causing these embarrassing problems. I just bought a wonderful new bike but I seem to be having some troubles with the saddle that came with it, but it might also be the new shorts (Pearl Izumi attack short) that I bought at the beginning of the season. The thing is I get pain in the soft tissue so I thought maybe a cut out saddle would be good but now I seem to have developed a saddle sore in the crouch (not sure if that is the right word to describe the area) that would probably be aggravated by the cut out would it not??? I was thinking about Terry Liberator Ti but is seems that it is not getting very good reviews on this message board.
Otherwise I just want to thank everybody here for some very useful information.
Thanks
Asa G.